It seems that another paint company has bit the dust. Scalecoat Paint has joined the list of paint labels that have been discontinued. The phone number for MinuteMan Scale Models has been disconnected, and their web site minutemanscalemodels.com has been taken down is unreachable. Any orders that had been placed have gone unfilled. I placed two orders in July of 2022 with no product delivered and my payment taken with no refund.
Oh great! Where do we go from here?
I am in the process of building a spray booth with plans to use solvent based enamel paints. What else is out there?
Rich
Alton Junction
I have been preaching this for years...
If you need anything to build your layout... BUY YOUR LIFETIME SUPPLY NOW!
richhotrainI am in the process of building a spray booth with plans to use solvent based enamel paints. What else is out there?
Not much.
Model Master, Floquil, Pactra, and Scalecoat are all gone.
Model Master military colors are demanding $20.00 or more for some colors on eBay.
Mr. Color, Humbrol, MIG, Tamiya X-Series... any others?
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Did a quick search and found a company called Arcus. They have enamels, and military color sets. Other than that, the testers stuff kept coming up. Those little square bottles.
shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
The only real model rr paint supplier are these guys..
https://trucolorpaint.com/products/
Not good news. I feel like its been getting harder to find hobby specific paints and solvents in general unless you go to a hobby shop which are becoming fewer. I miss using the model master acrylic paints and I did what the poster suggested and bought up a supply to finish my layout. Gosh those were great.
I switched to Tamiya and it's okay.
Hobby shops going away, new reg's, and people doing RTR have killed off most of the paint companys we are used to, change happens. I ran into this with clear coats, paint, glue, not to mention Shinohara is no longer here.
rrebellnot to mention Shinohara is no longer here.
That was a retirement, so that's pretty unrelated.
NittanyLion rrebell not to mention Shinohara is no longer here. That was a retirement, so that's pretty unrelated.
Returning to model railroading after 40 years and taking unconscionable liberties with the SP&S, Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads in the '40s and '50s.
No product and no refund, just disappear into the night?
My airbrush and what's left of my Floquil and Model Masters will have to be 'taken out of my cold dead hands.'
Regards, Peter
OK... I'll let a little bit I know about hobby paints out of the bucket...
In December, 2012 I visited the factory of an American gaming manufacturer that makes their own line of paints. At the time, they were transitioning from one line of paint to another.
I'll just call them "advanced", and "expert" lines. The advanced line was being replaced by the expert line.
I saw their molding, design, and packaging systems for figures, then I saw where they "make" their lines of paint. This is a highly regarded line of water-soluable paints for miniature figure painting.
What I saw, was five gallon pails of Sherwin Williams paint being blended with some additives to extend drying time and improve flow, then being packaged into this company's trademark 1/2 ounce bottles.
All their hobby paints were just modified Sherwin Williams house paint being repackaged as hobby paint.
Their new "expert" paints used a better line of SW product, and they were phasing out the other line because SW reformulated the base for that paint and it did not work as well.
The Worldwide leader in Gaming is Games-Workshop based in the UK. Their old line of (bolter round) paint was made in France, and it was also manufactured by a company that made house paint. I do not know where their new line of paint is made.
This is all OK. Sherwin Williams is not going to make gaming color paint in 1/2 ounce bottles. We need someone to do it in bulk. With some additional modifiers added, this is great hobby paint.
This brings me to Scalecoat. There was a gamer friend of mine that lived in Sarasota and had a business providing high-end automotive paint to body shops. He smelled the Scalecoat paint and swore it was actually an automotive paint made by DuPont. He said "I would know that smell anywhere".
This would not be surprising. Repackaging high quality automotive paint into convenient one ounce bottles is a good service for model railroaders.
I can't say for sure that is what Scalecoat paints were, but given what I know about other specialized hobby paints, it could be.
i just came from the only real hobby shop in Traverse City Michigan. Except for hobby lobby the next real hobby shop is four hours away in Grand Rapids. I wanted to get some Conrail blue for a touch up job. Nearly every paint rack was half empty except the airplane paints that must have had 50 or 60 colors all pastels. None of the racks had any railroad specific colors listed or any substitutes that are close to anything. Where do the companies selling painted cars and locomotives get their paints? Wonder if they would be interested in suppling paint to their customers?
As another observation...
Since so few manufacturers are willing to manufacture undecorated train cars, why would we be surprised that lines of paints and decals are going away?
SeeYou190 Not much. Model Master, Floquil, Pactra, and Scalecoat are all gone. Model Master military colors are demanding $20.00 or more for some colors on eBay. Mr. Color, Humbrol, MIG, Tamiya X-Series... any others? -Kevin
Does this mean my inventory of Hobby Lobby craft paint is becoming "state of the art"?
Jim
ndbprr i just came from the only real hobby shop in Traverse City Michigan. Except for hobby lobby the next real hobby shop is four hours away in Grand Rapids. I wanted to get some Conrail blue for a touch up job. Nearly every paint rack was half empty except the airplane paints that must have had 50 or 60 colors all pastels. None of the racks had any railroad specific colors listed or any substitutes that are close to anything. Where do the companies selling painted cars and locomotives get their paints? Wonder if they would be interested in suppling paint to their customers?
My sincere apologies. Per my earlier post, I stocked up...and it was at that store when I was visiting traverse city. But only after I stocked up on the remaining model master stuff at Chicagoland Hobby...fortunately which is great about restocking paints. There's also Ryders hobby in Flint and GR that have a great selection which is where I discovered the Tamiya paints
Well, that's just great! I placed a $70 order for paints a few months ago and was told by the owner after a month that there was a delay but that things were being prepared. I contacted him again just now to ask what's up and if I can get a refund if the paint won't be sent. I paid with Discover, so I think I can at least get a refund within 120 days of the order if he doesn't respond...
The reason I haven't posted many projects lately is because I've been waiting for my paint order, so I guess I'll have to start checking around.
Also, I decided to do a search and see if anything's happened to him. There's apparently one report of "deceased" to that name in NH, but I couldn't find an obituary to confirm.
_________________________________________________________________
Two months ago I put my supply of Floquil paints up for auction on Ebay. There were four auctions, three of them for 4 unopened bottles each, and the fourth for 4 opened/partially used bottles. All quickly sold for significantly more than I paid for them - years ago of course.
On the subject of paints...I know a couple that owned a very successful craft shop. They sold their own branded hobby paints (acrylics for ceramics, etc.).
Their paints were sourced from the Sherwin-Williams store on the the other side of the plaza, mostly custom mixed and bought in one gallon cans.
They used 1 and 2 ounce bottles (bought by the gross) and handfilled them from the gallon containers, and then applied typed/copied custom labels. Also, they used their own creative names for the various colors, so the connection with Sherwin Williams would be hard to make. As I understand, it was very profitable.
Anyway, I definitely agree with Kevin....if you are planning any major modeling project, stock up now. Even if you over buy, you can sell the excess at a later date, likely for more than you paid for it today.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Saddening as Scale Coat products performs so well; especially underneath the Alclad II line of metalizers. Yes, it is no secret that Scale Coats I & II are basically modified automotive paint. The odors vaguely reminded me of DuPont's 70's-80's era Lucite Acrylic Lacquer line.
I'm now glad that, 2 years back, I stocked up on SC II grays so that I could continue metalizing the rest of my stainless steel fleet as well as a few passenger cars for close friends.
I am grateful that Tru-Color is still producing products for us and includes a solvent based line. Hopefully TC will remain in business as long as there is a demand.
My respectful suggestion to modelers that enjoy painting is to PLEASE try to pass your skills on to your young relatives (sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, grandkids, etc). Hard to believe but some are willing to break away from online gaming and social media for a while and rest their eyes.
I was pleasantly surprised when one of my nieces (a hard charged computer gamer!) took me up on my offer to teach her basic airbrushing. I showed her how the compressor works, how the airbrush is controlled, and how to clean it. We practiced the basics of applying paint, including dagger strokes, and she eventually airbrushed a beach scene with palm trees!
A friend of mine encouraged his wife and shared his airbrush skills with her. Now she paints and weathers rolling stock!
Pass your skills on.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
AntonioFP45I am grateful that Tru-Color is still producing products for us and includes a solvent based line. Hopefully TC will remain in business as long as there is a demand.
Giving Tru Color with Alclad a try with your method soon! I'm working on an old Athearn metal RDC that's lost its tin plating and needs to be painted over, and hopefully the combo will look good. Alclad brass over black turned out well on another project, so I think I'm getting the hang of it.
Good lord guys. We are modelers. There are lots of paint lines out there. Yes they are not the deadly solvent based chemical stuff that IMO the health risks are over blown but they are there.
Railroad colors. Ok they maybe gone but mix our own. I've been doing that even with so-called RR colors from Floquil and Scalecoat. The real boys do it and each Railroad's paint shops pop out in different shades.
New horizons!
Tamiya Arcylics are great and flow easily from an airbrush. Same with super extensive lines of Vallejo paints.
I have been airbrushing models since the 70's when we baked the paints to hardness on brass locomotives.
Thats really unfortunate to hear, I actually had my last order actually come in like four weeks ago, after waiting over a month.
I loved scale coat stuff, was perfect for painting brass.
Charles
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Modeling the PRR & NYC in HO
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/@trainman440
Instagram (where I share projects!): https://www.instagram.com/trainman440
This may be meaningless, but eons ago MR made a series of diesel color paint charts which gave mixing portions to get the correct color for railroads. Perhaps MR could revive those as a subscriber bonus. Just a thought.
I used Pactra paints on my models for years and prefered them to other brands on the market. But that was then! Things look kinda bleak nowadays especially for those of us that prefer enamels.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
tloc52We are modelers. There are lots of paint lines out there.
Sure enough, and as such, resourceful. Tru-color line sounds interesting.
up831This may be meaningless, but eons ago MR made a series of diesel color paint charts which gave mixing portions to get the correct color for railroads. Perhaps MR could revive those as a subscriber bonus. Just a thought.
Even this has a huge wiggle. No one made the blue Amtrak uses on the Phase V livery. There's considerable debate on the recipes.
Not limited to railroads either. I recently painted a room Penn State blue. Found the actual color that Penn State uses, as in what the Office of the Physical Plant uses. The color looked all wrong when it is a couple walls in a small room versus a scoreboard 100 feet across.
NittanyLion No one made the blue Amtrak uses on the Phase V livery. There's considerable debate on the recipes.
You should join into a conversation with military modelers about what color "Panzer Yellow" really is.
Hi Darth, please keep us updated on your progress. Sounds like a good topic on a new thread.
Darth Santa Fe AntonioFP45 I am grateful that Tru-Color is still producing products for us and includes a solvent based line. Hopefully TC will remain in business as long as there is a demand. Giving Tru Color with Alclad a try with your method soon! I'm working on an old Athearn metal RDC that's lost its tin plating and needs to be painted over, and hopefully the combo will look good. Alclad brass over black turned out well on another project, so I think I'm getting the hang of it.
AntonioFP45 I am grateful that Tru-Color is still producing products for us and includes a solvent based line. Hopefully TC will remain in business as long as there is a demand.
quite apart from the loss of Scalecoat paints, Minuteman Scale Models also had some very intriguing kits in a variety of scales. As Kevin and others have indicated we are reaching the point where if you even think you MIGHT need something, someday, in a world far far away ..... better buy it when you can. True this is the kind of thinking that can make our basement shelves look like hobby shops without the credit card device.
Dave Nelson
Hi NittanyLion,
It's true that, often times, prototype colors on models often don't scale in the layout room. Lighting, light reflection, shadows, all play a part.
However, an area where we can make a noticable difference is the color temperature of lighting that modelers have in their layout room. Just look at Florida East Coast red under the traditional 60W incandescent bulbs or T8 flouresent lighting and you might say "Yipes!".
Now that L.E.D lighting is more affordable, using lights that come close to the cool white "Daylight" 5000K to 6000K color temperature range (often preferred for kitchens and bathrooms on newer homes) will make your colors look more prototypical. For those of us accustomed to the "yellows" of incandescent lighting it can take some getting used to, but it works nicely. Note how the blue sky back ground looks "deeper and bluer" with the 5K rated lighting.
But I'll digress as this can be the topic for a new thread
NittanyLion Even this has a huge wiggle. No one made the blue Amtrak uses on the Phase V livery. There's considerable debate on the recipes. Not limited to railroads either. I recently painted a room Penn State blue. Found the actual color that Penn State uses, as in what the Office of the Physical Plant uses. The color looked all wrong when it is a couple walls in a small room versus a scoreboard 100 feet across.
dknelsonAs Kevin and others have indicated we are reaching the point where if you even think you MIGHT need something, someday, in a world far far away ..... better buy it when you can. True this is the kind of thinking that can make our basement shelves look like hobby shops.
At this point I should have everything I need to build the next layout. I really cannot think of a single item or supply I do not have.
The amount of hobby stuff in this house (no basement) is horrific. It really looks insane.
Fortunately my wife understands the situation. If I do not have it today, it might not be available tomorrow.
Do I need an insurance policy for this stuff now?
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
All I need that I do not have is lumber.
Once I start building, nothing will stand in my way.
Just buy a lumber yard, Kevin.